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Beny

Kasper labels pitch a dry creek bed
Robert Craddock
Bangalore
05oct04

INDIA has shamelessly doctored the first Test pitch to suit its spin bowling strength, tossing up a "dry creek bed" which the local media has branded "an absolute shocker".

Australian players, particularly the young ones not used to such sights, were stunned to drive through the green, leafy streets of Bangalore and then find the only piece of land in the entire city which had not received moisture from six weeks of constant rain was the parched strip that will host tomorrow's first Test.

One player uttered nothing more than a one-syllable swear word when he saw it.

Another fast bowler, when asked what he would get out of it, said "a sore back".

The Chinnaswamy Stadium deck is full of cracks, some more than half a centimetre wide, and just to make sure there was as little grass cover as possible, the groundsmen got on their hands and knees and scrubbed it off with a steel brush even though there was two days to go before the match.

The cracks became so wide yesterday that groundstaff tried to improve the wicket's appearance by placing mud down the wider ones to act as a type of glue.

The wicket's only redeeming feature is its hardness, though it is a worry for batsmen because some of the cracks already look flaky. It should play well for a few days before deteriorating.

Rain is forecast for the next three days but few people expect the game to go the distance and the side which bats first could have a major advantage.

Australian coach John Buchanan described the wicket as "terrible" to look at, but saw possible spin-offs for the fast men. "The upside for the seamer is because it is abrasive one would expect the ball will reverse swing," Buchanan said.

"The second is it should skid and be up and down. That's a positive for Warnie. It will be low, won't have a huge amount of bounce and turn.

"By all reports it should hold together but it looks as if it will break up. You are just not sure what is underneath. I suspect it will dust up but we are playing at a time of year when it is not so hot."

The Australians believe the wicket will play better than it looks and could simply be the type of slow, featureless, deck seen in the West Indies last year that demands precision from the bowlers.

But there was no denying it had been purpose built for India's reunited spin stars Harbhajan Singh and, particularly, Anil Kumble, the feisty spinner who was raised a few kilometres from the ground and is a demon on wearing wickets.

Indian batsman Rahul Dravid had a long look at the wicket yesterday and left with a wry smile.

Joey Hoover, respected cricket scribe from Bangalore's Deccan Herald, was saddened by the sight of a deck that Michael Kasprowicz likened to a dry creek bed.

"I'm 44 and I played my first game here when I was 13 and in that time I have only seen one other wicket like it here," Hoover said.

"It has been raining here every day for six weeks and we get a wicket like that. I'm really disappointed.

"People say it's good for India, but it's not good for cricket. The big thing will be if it gets hot. Then it will break up. If it doesn't it might not be too bad."

Hoover's back page story yesterday described the pitch as "an absolute shocker . . . a barren, bone-dry, craggy deck".

Groundsmen were reportedly told three weeks ago not to water the wicket.

Selection chairman Trevor Hohns said the wicket would not alter Australia's thinking -- it would still play three fast bowlers.

Kasprowicz, who took five wicket here to win Australia the third Test of the 1998 series, said the wicket had similarities to the '98 deck. "It looks like the type of wicket you will see in a one-day game. It should last five days though. The whole square is very solid."